December 12, 2013 I The Lovell Chronicle I7
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Children's
Creative
Christmas event
organizer Emily
Hart gives Santa
a hug of thanks
for visiting the
elders and their
guests at the
New Horizons
Care Center on
Saturday during
a special holiday
event hosted by
the center.
PATrI CARPENTER PHOTO
STATE WATER
the computer notes, an aide
with Cole recorded one of
the roundtable gatherings
and the overviews present-
ed by each facilitator.
Following the 60 min-
utes of back-and-forth ex-
changes among the three
groups, about another 30
minutes were devoted to
the presentations by the
facilitators. Among the
principal topics noted by
each: local control of wa-
ter issues, water rights,
pivots vs. traditional irri-
gation, the state role in wa-
ter funding, D.C. views vs.
Western perspectives, state
and federal project funding
for infrastructure upgrades
and maintenance, existing
STRATEGY continued from page one
compacts, federal encroach-
ment and headwater stor-
age to prevent water from
leaving the state.
Topics and concerns
also included oil and gas
drilling effects on water re-
sources, private enterprise
vs. government projects
and complexities of shar-
ing water. One other point
that arose from attendees
is what they see as a need
to educate the public, espe-
cially youth, as to just how
vital water is to so many
aspects of the Wyoming
economy, from tourism and
agriculture to fisheries and
wildlife.
At the conclusion of
the interchanges, Cole not-
ed: "We need this kind of
community development
and your time and partic-
ipation are appreciated.
Please stay involved; be
representative. This has
been a beneficial meet-
ing and will be empower-
ing for the governor. He
is 'Wyoming' through and
through, and at heart a
rancher. (When it comes to
a water strategy.) He will
be able to say, 'This is what
the people want' and we
will have developed an ini-
tiative we can all be proud
of."
After the meeting, a
lunch by Bob Acton of Hawg
Heaven BBQ was made
available for attendees.
STREET PROJECT continued from page one
one block on either end of
the hard closure, with lim-
ited access for "local traffic."
The only exception to that
plan is the block from Que-
bec to Pennsylvania, which
is wide enough to allow
two-way traffic on one side
of Main while work is being
conducted on the other side.
Traffic entering the soft
closure block will be able to
make a U turn to exit the
block, and customer park-
ing will be allowed to the
soft closure blocks, the offi-
cials said.
All sidewalks will be
open during the project for
business and residential ac-
cess, except during the mo-
ments when the sidewalk
is being cut and later, re-
paved. Service line trenches
will be covered.
Traffic will be detoured
one block to the north
of Main on Third Street
around each hard closure,
and Mattie said each hard
closure will last from two
to three weeks, depending
on the number of service
lines and/or any problems
that crop up. The block-by-
block work will then "leap
frog down Main, but the
goal is to totally complete
each block as the project
moves along, finishing and
paving as it proceeds rather
than waiting until the end
of the summer, as in pri-
or phases of the water and
sewer project.
"It's really tough to co-
ordinate," Mattie said. "The
engineering is not compli-
cated. How you pull it off is
complicated. WyDOT has
been great to work with."
He said it would be very
helpful if business or home
owners can tell DOWL
HKM where their utility
service lines run, especial-
ly sewer lines, noting that
the "last best information"
is more than 50 years old.
Mattie and Steed not-
ed that there will be week-
ly construction meetings
during the project and the
public is welcome and en-
couraged to attend. Up-
dates, including a map, will
also be published in the
Lovell Chronicle weekly.
"You can sit right in
(the weekly meetings) and
ask questions," Beers not-
ed. "They are all pubic, and
we invite anybody and ev-
erybody to come and par-
ticipate in the process."
Businesses are en-
couraged to prepare rear
entrance access to their
stores and offices during
the hard closure in front of
the business, Mattie and
Beers stressed, and it was
noted that Lovell Inc. and
the Lovell Area Chamber
of Commerce will be work-
ing with businesses to fa-
cilitate the rear entrance
access.
PUBLIC QUESTIONS
Mattie said, in re-
sponse to a question from
North Big Horn Senior
Center Director Denise
Andersen, that there will
be brief times (one to two
hours) when water service
is shut off to a customer,
such as when a new line
is being hooked up, but
during construction tempo-
rary water service will be
provided, and when an out-
age is planned, 48-hour no-
tice will be provided.
"And the shutoff will
usually be done after a cer-
tain time so someone isn't
caught in the shower,"
Mattie added.
Mattie stressed that
anyone with special needs
or times when water should
not be shut off is asked to
communicate that informa-
tion to the town or DOWL
HKM.
Andersen said her con-
cert was getting seniors
into businesses during
construction, and Mattie
asked her to work with him
on a weekly basis to coordi-
nate efforts.
"If you know of people
with special access needs,
let us know and we'll help
them," Mattie said.
Mattie and Steed said
there are no plans for a
truck route around the
town, although they not-
ed that regular truckers
will probably learn to avoid
the project. All traffic will
proceed into town, then
be routed one block to the
north on Third where the
hard closure is in place on
Main.
Some individual is-
sues were discussed. Jim
Davis asked about get-
ting his supply trucks to
Lovell Building Center
and seemed satisfied that
trucks will be allowed down
Montana. Cheryl Knop dis-
cussed the Monday morn-
ing crunch of her delivery
truck and customers trying
to use the rear entrance at
the same time.
Steed and Mattie noted
that a special provision will
be included in the construc-
tion contract to shut down
during Mustang Days so
that events won't be affect-
ed. Steed noted that a sim-
ilar provision was in place
during Pioneer Day a few
years ago in Cowley, and
the parade route ran its
normal course on Main us-
ing the base surface.
Asked about how long
it would take for new-
ly poured concrete to
cure, Steed said most con-
crete reaches 80 percent
strength in three or four
days, and a contractor can
also use "high early" con-
crete that will cure even
faster.
Compton said WyDOT
may require the use of high
early concrete in the con-
tract, and Steed noted that
the entire surface of Main
will be ground for smooth-
ness at the end of the proj-
ect and the joints sealed.
"It will be a lot nicer
Main Street when we're
done," Steed said.
EMERGENCY SERVICES
As for emergency ser-
vices, Lovell Chief of Police
Nick Lewis said engineers
and construction personnel
have worked closely with
the LPD and dispatch cen-
ter during previous phases
of the water and sewer
project to alert agencies
about which streets would
be closed during a certain
time period.
"The closures will be
very well defined," Beers
said. "The project moves
slow enough that barriers
will only be changed every
couple of weeks."
Lewis also recom-
mended that since long
semi-tractor trailers will
be using side street that
cars be asked to park away
from corners so the trucks
can make a corner with
their side turning radius.
"We definitely have
to look at that," Compton
agreed, though Beers add-
ed, "Lovell has a better sit-
uation than some towns
I've worked with" due to its
wide streets.
Compton noted that,
with the median strip gone,
parking lanes on each side
of the street will be wid-
ened by about a foot.
During the evening
meeting several mentioned
the removal of the medi-
an strip, which they con-
sider to be a safe haven.
Tom Newman said he has
seen from his State Farm
office many people "play
Frogger" as they dodge
traffic crossing the street
and asked about addition-
al crosswalks, while Hy-
art Theatre Manager Wen-
dy Roth said she worries
about people crossing the
street on Friday and Sat-
urday nights heading to a
movie. She wondered if the
police department could
enforce jaywalking more
stringently.
Noting the suspension
of the project during Mus-
tang Days, Roth also asked
if consideration could be
made for the Hyart Film
Festival, which takes place
the weekend before, and
Audrey Bay of the Four
Corners noted that several
hundred motorcycles will
hit her part of town in ear-
ly June during the annual
cancer run. Steed said the
project wouldn't likely be
that far west by early June.
Beers said the biggest
inconvenience during the
entire project is parking.
"If people are willing to
park (on a side street) and
get some exercise, theyeai
walk right in the front do r
of a business," he said, not-
ing that some communities
have been able to enhance
and oper/up their business
district by developing rear-
door entrances.
+
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